Flexible coupling.



R. A. SMITH.

FLEXIBLE COUPLING.

APPIIICATION FILED SEPT. 5. 1914.

1 9 1 65,55 10 Patented? Dec. 28, 1915.

@077! hkmgwa/am %a urun snares PATENT oration ROBERT ARMSTRONG SMITH, ormanwan, NEW .rnnsnr.

Specification of Letters Patent.

FLEXIBLE COUPLING Patented Dec. as, rare.

Application filed September 5, 1914. Serial No. 860,439.

To all whom it may concern? Be it known that 1, ROBERT A. SM1'r1r,'a'citizen of the United States, residing at Mahwah, Bergen county, NewJersey, have inventedcertain new anduseful Improvements in FlexibleCouplings, following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improve ments in flexible pins such asare used in flexible couplings of the type shown in Letters Patent ofthe United States No. 1,029,355 dated June 11, 1912. In using couplingsmade in accordance with said patent, I have found that under someconditions an end thrust is produced caused by the binding of thesprings acting against the corner of the keepers and the object of thepresent invention is to provide a construction which will avoid thetrouble arising from such end thrust.

lhe invention includes the novel features of construction andarrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described andparticularly defined by the appended claims.

Several embodiments of my invention are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of one formof spring pin, and Figs. 2, and 3 are similar views of modifications.Fig. 4 is a modification showing the invention used without a keeper.

Referring by reference characters to this drawing the keepers are shownat 1 and the superimposed flat steel springs constituting the flexibleconnecting members at 2. In order to avoid the thrust effect due to theaction of the outside springs on the corners of the keepers I provideone or both of the keepers with spacing means which will space theoutermost leaves from the corners. Such means may consist of a singlespacing piece located centrally of the leaves as indicated at 3 whichcauses a rounding or inclining inward of the outer leaves away from thecorners of the keepers as indicated at 2 in Fig. 1. This rounded portionof the spring leaf avoids any end thrust which arises under sidepressure of misalinement or load when the outermost springs can binddirectly around the corner of the keeper.

Instead of a single centrally located spacer as shown in Fig. 1, I mayuse a pair of which the of spacers 3 interposed beneath the outermostleaves 2 as shown in Fig. 2.

A further modification is shown in Fig. 3 in which the spacers 3 aresimilar to Fig. 2 but the wear strips 4 extend straight out to the endsof the keepers as indicated at c.

The construction as described to avoid the thrust effect is intended fornormal opera-- tion but occasionally a coupling is overloaded, or it maybe placed under such excessive misalinement that the springs are flexedbeyond their normal position and in such cases they do touch the corner.Under such severe load or misalinement the touching of a spring to acorner stifiens it because it shortens the distance between supports. Inother words for normal operation it is very desirable that the springsdo not touch the corner as provided for by this improvement but forabnormal operation the touching of the corners is not undesirable asabove explained.

The wear strips shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are not essential to thesuccess of my invention. For the purpose of this description and claimsthe wear strips are considered as part of the keeper, and not as spacingmeans or as one of the spring members. As they are held with the keepersand are considered part of the'keeper, it is imma terial so far asthrust is concerned, whether the sliding spring laminated portion of thepin is immediately in contact with the main keeper part, or whetherthewear strip part of the keeper intervenes.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. In a flexible pin, a, keeper, a set of superimposed leaf springshaving their ends seated in said keeper, and means tree from contactwith said keeper spacing apart certain of the leaf springs at one end.

2. In a flexible pin, a keeper, a set of superimposed leaf springshaving their ends seated in said keeper the first point of contactbetween the outside leaf spring and the keeper being normally back ofthe inside edge of the keeper.

3. A flexible pin comprising a keeper having a recess, a set of-superimposed leaf springs having their endsseated in said recess, andspacing means between certain of said springs.

4. A flexible pin comprising a keeper haw I In testimony whereof I afiixmy'signature mg a recess, a set of superimposed leaf in presence of twowitnesses. sprin s havin their ends seated in said re- VT cess, and mans cOOpeI-ating with said ROBERT ARMSTROBG SMIlH' 5 springs whereby aclearance is afforded be- Witnesses:

tween the edge of the keeper and said Ensmxr: R. EADIE,

springs. EDITH HEALY.

